My life as a farm wife

Aga Goodies

It feels like this year is just galloping away from us! With my preggie brain, I am struggling to keep up with things and feel torn in a hundred different directions. In the next three months we have to host our 3rd annual Vastrap Boran auction (14 August), finish the building work that we are doing on the new baby room, attend various other auctions around the country, whilst at the same time trying to make sure that I don’t have any final stage complications in my pregnancy like we did last time. The only sure way of achieving this is to put my feet up, but there’s not much chance of that happening with an 18 month old toddler making mischief around the house and demanding her mommy’s attention!

It doesn’t help that we’ve been away from home a lot this year and every time we get back there’s an adjustment phase to get back into routine. I really can’t complain though. We had a lovely trip to the UK recently. Livia and I tagged along for the ride, while Quentin joined some friends on a week long golf tour. We had a fantastic time in London and visited a friend and my God-daughter Daisy, near the sea in West Sussex. It was a real treat to relax and enjoy some warmer weather whilst doing fun things with Livia.

I bought some fabulous accessories for the Aga in London. An old Aga like ours doesn’t have all the cooking attachments that the new ones have. I didn’t even realise this until I saw them at another friend’s house. The most useful thing I got was a cooking grid that slides into the Aga runners so that you don’t have to cook straight on the solid bottom plate of the oven. There is also a shelf that slides in to make the oven a bit cooler and more suitable for cooking when the fire is burning really hot. I also love the oven gloves and chef’s pad that protects the chrome top of the Aga stove. It is so useful and totally solves the problem of where to put hot things when moving them from the stove to the oven or from the hot plate to the cool plate. I wanted to get the baking trays that slide into the oven runners, but there wasn’t enough space in my luggage!

I made some enquiries when I got home to see if these things are available from the Aga agent locally. The full catalogue is here –> AGA Cookshop Spring Summer 2015 or click on the link for the local Aga Living website. They don’t stock the full range, but if you’re willing to wait for the next container load you can do a special order. I really would highly recommend the textiles and simple accessories for those wanting to make their old anthracite Aga’s more user friendly.

I was interested to see the racks .I am fortunate that when I bought my AGA from an elderly lady in 1995 I got 2 racks and the solid tray as well along with all sorts of tools. One to turn the plate and fire pot . You see there are 4 holes on the plate over the fire.The tool
fits in 2 of the holes and the pot turns. I’ve heard it lengthens the life of the pot as the fire tends to lie to the one side and gradually eats the pot away. turning prevents this. Unfortunately the tool has gone missing. I also got the flat flexilble metal tools to scoop and push the soot under the 2nd plate and so are able to clean the flues and vents. I see one accessory that i have missing..a cute little girl with a broom to seep my kitchen!!

Sweeping is her absolute favourite Yolanda. I bought the little broom from a street vendor in Joburg and it has been an absolute win! Those tools sound very useful. I have one to scrape the ash out of the bottom tray, but not much else. Never heard of turning the fire pot. Our friends have a crack in theirs and they have been struggling so much to get it fixed. The guys in Bloemfontein have had it for months and still haven’t returned it so they’ve been without their Aga for the whole winter so far. Crazy!!

Yes parts can be a problem. Over the years every time my husband goes to a scrapyard he keeps an eye open for parts and we have quite a few bits that may come in useful someday.Presently my fire pot has a hole in it on the side about 3cm diameter. I must check in the store to see if I have a better one. It doesn’t seem to affect its performance but maybe an expert would beg to differ. I was devastated when I heard recently that a friend of ours who had eight AGA’s and a lot of spares took them all to the scrapyard when he needed money and sold them by weight!! One was a rare Delux 4 oven WHITE one. I felt he should have been jailed for the wicked deed!! They would have brought in far more money if he had sold them to collectors or someone who loves them. So maybe a scouring of scrapyards in the country would be an answer to your friends pot. Trouble is most scrapyard dealer’s don’t know what they are looking at when they get parts in.I think the pots are very difficult to fix. Maybe someone who used to work on the old steam train fireboxes might have an idea how to repair.All the best!

My journey began when I married my love in November 2010 and moved from the city to our farm in rural South Africa. Thanks to the wonders of technology I have kept one foot in the city whilst emersing myself in a new life on the farm.